I’m jumping the gun on the Chinese Zodiac here, but it seemed like an aggressive, carpe diem sort of title which is only fitting for post numero uno of 2k12.

Happy New Year!!! It’s gonna be a good one – I can feel it in me bones. I aim to get a bit more personal with you peeps in the coming year, but that won’t be starting today. No, today I will pass along just a few points of interest, then you can carry on with your Tuesdays. Freaking Tuesdays.

If you are a Comcast subscriber, Showtime is offering FREE ACCESS this coming weekend. This is excellent news as Sunday, January 8, includes the season premiers of Shameless and Californication, and the series premier of House of Lies. I’ve been ranting and raving for months about how mandatory it is that you all have Showtime, and now you can just figure it out for yourself. But be sure you listen up for my voice in your head saying, “I told you so” accompanied by a knowing flat face when you’re on the phone with Comcast next Monday morning. If one more person comes up to me and says, “omigosh I am just LOVING that show Homeland!! Have you seen it??” …. I will pull a Nick Brady and punch them in the throat.

I’m no longer an avid AJC reader – I get my news from NYMag and the Today Show, which means I tend to know very little about local events, but I was at my parents’ house yesterday and stumbled upon award winning cartoonist Mike Luckovich’s favorite cartoons of 2011. He’s one of the AJC’s few claims to fame, and I really like his stuff. Check out the slide show here…and my favorite below.

RIP :(

Also sad: Georgia’s loss yesterday. Pretty irrelevant but football related: Oregon’s chrome helmets in yesterday’s Rose Bowl game were pretty rad. And that’s all I have to say about sports.

There’s no better day for hibachi than January 1, and I’d like to give a quick nod to Nakato on Cheshire Bridge: reasonable prices (particularly if you get in there for the Early Bird Special: 6:30 or before Sunday – Thursday), entertaining staff, and excellent pink sauce. And, I don’t know if you knew this or not, but Tower Liquor is now open on Sundays, and it’s right around the corner…

January kind of sucks because there’s a real emphasis on self-improvement and change and the righting of wrongs and other things of moderate to extreme difficulty. I guess it’s exciting in some senses – fresh start, clean slate, etc. – but mostly it just makes me tired. Or so it has in the past….this year is a totally different ballgame. BOLO for Active Allie, Backbone Baxter, and an All-Round-Better BBT. Like I said: it’s the Year of Dragon…I’ll be channeling Lisbeth Salander for the first few weeks, at least.

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There is a lot of money floating around in Russia, and this guy’s got a bulk of it. Dmitry Rybolovlev, a fertilizer kingpin – obviously, just purchased the most expensive apartment in New York City for his daughter, a freshman in college. There are a few things worthy of note regarding this exorbitant acquisition:

If you are a freshman in college in NYC, or even in the general ballpark of that age, it would behoove you to make friends with Mr. Fertilizer’s offspring. 2 words: house party. (Jordan, I’m looking at you.)

Mr. Crap is ranked as the world’s 93rd richest person, worth approximately $9.5 billion as of March this year. That makes my head hurt.

He is also in the process of getting divorced. Well, hellooooo Mr. Smelly {head toss, shoulder dip}

Did you have a nice Christmas? I did. It was lurvely. My sisters were home for nine full days, so we got in lots of QT. My favorite new things include: my express electric kettle – it boils water in like under a minute!! Given the amount of Easy Mac tea I consume, this is a real luxury. I am also obsessed with my new Pierre Deux “Eau de le Maison” candle. It is the best smelling candle I have ever smelled, so you can imagine my dismay when I realized that Pierre Deux has closed. Ever resourceful, I did done some research and found the maker of this candle: Seda France. I also love my new DvF luggage – I never saw myself as a glamorous traveler, but this stuff is a real game changer – as well as my new home goods. Notably missing from my new possessions: a penthouse.

As we’ve learned, I am no good at reviewing movies, but I do have to acknowledge Girl with a Dragon Tattoo: it is awesome. It is very long, but unless you consume a (movie sized) medium diet coke AND a (brought from home) can of La Croix, you should be okay. Rooney Mara is excellent at encapsulating Lisbeth Salander’s rage/intelligence, and Daniel Craig is exactly who I always pictured to play Mikael Blomkvist. Even if you haven’t read the books, you need to see it. BBT says: two thumbs way up.

Uno mas shout out: Antica Posta. My whole fam went on Christmas Eve, and we enjoyed what was probably one of my top three meals of 2011. From the arugula salad (so fresh with LOTS of parmesean) to my roast chicken entree (a seasonal special – bursting with flavor) and my side of pasta (a carbonara of sorts with a gemelli noodle – I should note this is not a “side” so much as a $13 appetizer option…I wanted leftovers…) – it was awesome. Plus the bar area is very cool with double-height vaulted ceilings and cozy club chairs. Huge fan. I’d like to say I’ll be going back soon, but, while the food is not unreasonable, the wine list kinda is, and that’s what gets me. BBT says: have someone take you in the very near future.

I realize this whole post is kind of apropos of nothing, but ya gotta grease the wheels before you get back on the bike…or something, I just made that up.

HAPPY ENGAGEMENT TO SISSY AND BILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are no words that could do my happiness justice. It’s just…yay.

This is seriously getting pretty weird – I just keep winning things?? I’m concerned I’m going to get accustomed to this, causing my previously bottomed-out expectations to start rising – how unhealthy would that be. And Sister just reminded me of the $100 I won in Newnan last Thanksgiving…it’s becoming something of a pattern, and it’s not good. This time it was this beautimous pair of earrings by the very talented Mary Kelly Clary of give a penny.designs via the High Museum Wine Auction Giveaway.

I’m thrilled – those just scream ALLIE. They’re the “Gold Laura” and they are nice and big which is perfect for my opposite-of-small domepiece.

I’ve decided that a fun thing to do will be “A Year in a Review: Baxter Bark Twice.” You know, top posts, most remarkable and/or memorable events…as well as the worst posts and the least interesting things – it’s going to be a very comprehensive round-up. I’m not going to do it today because I am simply too busy, but BOLO. This epiphany of a year-end review came to me not via all of the other publications doing year-end wrap-ups, but by way of good food and friends at Mosaic. I know, I’ve said horrible things about Mosaic in the past (and on my spreadsheet), but on a gross Tuesday night when they have half-off wine and their sliders taste like a gift from the culinary gods, I’m okay with it. Granted, Danielle had to basically order our food directly from the chef as the servers were no where to be found, but I guess ya can’t win ’em all.

Merry Christmas! Love, Le Boof, H&H Home, and BBT…

..and The Duchess. How glorious do both she and her hair look?! I can’t wait to hear about what William gives her for Christmas. I’m thinking maybe a full-length chinchilla coat plus a million dollar donation to her favorite charity..? I think that sounds perfect – she’s a fashion maven with excellent taste and a heart of gold.

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Earlier today I received an email from my friend Allison aka Pal that included a teeny confession she’d previously neglected to share:

So like a year ago I wrote a half-serious email to Perez Hilton about Allie’s blog and that he should read it and hire her. I was just bored at work. And I included a picture. And now we’re on Perez Hilton.

Say what? I go to the site – one I honestly do not frequent – and sure enough:

There are like 97 other pictures of the two of us I would have chosen over this one….but whatevs. That was a great night: Basil’s patio with ABE the V and Paxton…we sure did laugh a lot, and that was the first time I had the life-changing grits AND the first time I tried vinho verde – a very tasty Portuguese varietal that I later wrote about here…but I digress. We actually look pretty normal compared to the other people – the other people who took the time to send Perez a photo professing their undying love and affection. Good grief. I tried to post a comment with a link to BBT, but it hasn’t shown up yet…may as well try to get some new readers out of this HUMILIATION.

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As seems to be the case with all my surveys, the results of my poll on Tuesday were unremarkable. Turns out there are stupid questions (well, we already knew that (this is one of my favorite posts)), and apparently I keep asking them.

1. I read BBT because…

22.7% – it has relevant or interesting information

43.5% – it is funny

7.4% – it is fun to make fun of Allie

22.7% – I like to be distracted during the work day

2.6% – Allie pesters me about reading it

1.3% – I might stop reading if she asks me anymore stupid questions

Ok? I don’t know what I expected to glean from that question, but I’m glad to know that less than half of you read this because you think it’s funny.

2. What would you like to see more of on BBT?

17.7% – boy/girl surveys

14.6% – Atlanta restaurants/deals

19.6% – personal anecdotes

12.3% – celeb stuff

17.3% – goings-on around Atlanta

18.6% – new sites that I should check out

So, basically…this data helps me not at all. I should have made it so you could only choose one answer, and I also should have allowed it to show how many people took it. Fail on both counts. I will try to focus more on personal anecdotes, less on celeb stuff, and stay about the same with the other stuff.

3. I am a boy/girl:

28.6% – boy

71.4% – girl

I honestly do believe that more than 30% of my readers are male, but I also believe that they are less inclined to participate in my boneheaded polls. So…fair enough.

I have two sites of interest to share with you today – the perk is that both of these require about 2 seconds of your time to appreciate:

The second is a mind-blowing fact blog about Apple and the rest of the world: Things Apple Is Worth More Than (spoiler alert: all of the illegal drugs in the world…)

My friends and I adopted a family for our third year in a row this Christmas, and I think this year was our best yet. I must say – and this is not because no one offered but because Christmas is a crazy time of year – I did do all of the shopping by myself, and I did a pretty awesome job. It’s for a family of three: a single father and two sons, and the gifts are exactly what they asked for. I’m proud of us for participating for three years straight. Between Lindsay’s magazine-worthy holiday decor and the cheer of wrapping gifts for this family (and the Stouffer’s mac n cheese), last night got me more in the Christmas spirit than anything else yet this year. ‘Tis the season!

New sites to check out? BOOM. Personal anecdote? Nailed it.

Ok – this may or may not be real. It is a “petite retriever” and I can’t tell what kind of hybrid it is, but his name is Rigoletto and he is a PERMANENT PUPPY. He tops out at 20 lbs. I must have him.